2018 Cases

October 25, 2018

James McFarland, of London, pled guilty to nine Class D felony and ten Class A misdemeanor counts of theft by failure to make required disposition of property. These counts related to tax that Mr. McFarland withheld from his employees of his Laurel County business, Leimac Home Incarceration, Inc., but did not remit to the Department of Revenue. He was sentenced to five years, but was granted diversion for four years. Debra Crawford investigated this matter and presented it for prosecution.

October 17, 2018

Robert Schmiedeler, of Jefferson County, was indicted by a Franklin County grand jury on 16 Class D felony counts of theft by failure to make required disposition of property. The counts are related to $31,603.48 in stolen withholding tax that Mr. Schmiedeler collected from the employees of his Jefferson County business, Worry Free Lawn Care, LLC, but did not remit to the Commonwealth. Debra Crawford investigated this case and presented it for prosecution.

October 1, 2018

Beau Hiner, of Oxford, Ohio, was sentenced to four counts of theft by failure to make required disposition of property, all Class D felonies. He was granted pretrial diversion for five years and ordered to pay restitution of $51,967.71. These counts related to sales tax that Mr. Hiner collected on behalf of the Fayette County business, Doughby's Store #2, and did not remit to the Commonwealth. Debra Crawford investigated this matter and presented it for prosecution.

August 21, 2018

Kari Thornsberry of Mousie, pleaded guilty to 32 counts of theft by failure to make required disposition of property, all Class D felonies. These charges relate to $30,582.33 in sales tax that Ms. Thornsberry collected on behalf of her Knott County business, Holly Hills Restaurant, and did not remit to the Department of Revenue. Her sentencing will be on November 2. Debra Crawford investigated this case and presented it for prosecution.

August 20, 2018

On November 2,
Travis West, of Shelbyville, was sentenced to nine years incarceration in accordance with the jury’s recommendation finding him guilty of willfully failing to file or pay his Kentucky individual income taxes for the tax years 2008 to 2014, all Class D felonies. The trial revealed that, Mr. West, despite having earned more than $1 million as a flooring installation contractor, did not believe he owed income tax or needed to file a return because of his personal study of income tax law. On December 7, the Franklin Circuit Court ordered shock probation for Mr. West, following a period in the county jail that began immediately after his trial on August 20. Mr. West will be required to file his missing returns and pay Department of Revenue full restitution as part of his probation. Former SID investigator Richard McKenna and Special Investigations Auditor Matthew McLaughlin prepared the case and testified for the Division at this trial.

August 3, 2018

Danny Arms, of Glasgow, Ky., pled guilty to four counts of theft by failure to make required disposition of property, all Class D felonies, in Franklin Circuit Court. Mr. Arms was sentenced to five years on each count, to run concurrently, but granted diversion for five years. He must pay $46,651.12 in restitution to the Department of Revenue. This case is related to withholding tax that was collected from his employees for his Barren County business, Arms Masonry, that he did not remit to the Commonwealth. Debra Crawford investigated the case and presented it for prosecution.

July 31, 2018

Emma Marquess of Lexington was indicted by a Franklin County grand jury on five Class C and ten Class D felony counts of theft by failure to make required disposition of property. She was also indicted on 15 counts of persistent felony offender second degree. The charges relate to $119,060.08 in sales and withholding taxes that were collected by the Fayette County business, The Speaquess Group, LLC, doing business as Jamba Juice, that Ms. Marquess did not remit to the Department of Revenue. Debra Crawford investigated this case and presented it for prosecution.

June 5, 2018

James McFarland, of London, was indicted by a Franklin County grand jury on nine Class D felony counts and ten Class A misdemeanor counts of theft by failure to make required disposition of property. These charges relate to tax that Mr. McFarland withheld from his employees of his Laurel County business, Leimac Home Incarceration, Inc., but did not remit to the Department of Revenue. Debra Crawford investigated this matter and presented it for prosecution.

April 3, 2018

Tiffany Williams, of Georgetown, KY was indicted by a Franklin County grand jury on 28 counts of Willful Preparation of False Kentucky Income Tax Returns in the years 2014, 2015, 2016, and 2017. Richard McKenna investigated this case and presented it for prosecution.

February 5, 2018

Alvin and Jennifer Cummins, of Waddy, were each indicted by a Shelby County grand jury on four Class D felony counts of filing a false Kentucky individual income tax return, one count each for the years 2013 to 2016. David Whitehouse investigated this case and presented it for prosecution.

January 22, 2018

Saeed Abdalla of Louisville was sentenced to five years diversion by Jefferson Circuit Court in a case concerning eight Class D felony counts of preparing a fraudulent Kentucky individual income tax return. These counts related to returns that Mr. Adballa prepared for clients that contained a pattern of fraudulent deductions. Gene Stratton and Jeff Fogg investigated this case and Gene Stratton presented it for prosecution.

January 18, 2018

Megan Cox of Monticello pled guilty in Wayne County Circuit Court to filing a fraudulent Kentucky individual income tax return for tax year 2015, a Class D felony. This case was related to $21,487.57 in income from Ms. Cox received but did not report. David Whitehouse investigated this case and presented it for prosecution.